June 23, 2007 marked the day the Dallas Stars were able to make a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Stars would trade a 4th round draft pick to Columbus for 3 additional 5th round picks. This trade allowed the Stars to land the steal of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft... Jamie Benn.

Let's take a look at how Columbus acquired their handful of 5th rounders and how the draft went.

On February 27, 2007 Ty Conklin of the Columbus Blue Jackets was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a 5th round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Columbus would acquire an additional 5th rounder on May 16, 2007 when the Boston Bruins traded their 2007 5th round pick to Columbus for Adam McQuaid.

The Stars made a trade with the Blue Jackets on June 23, 2007. The Blue Jackets received the Stars 94th overall pick (4th round from LA) in exchange for the 128th (CBJ's original 5th), 129th (BOS from CBJ) and 149th (BUF from CBJ) overall picks (5th round). The Stars had acquired the 94th pick in the Mattias Norstrom deal and had traded away their 5th rounder to Montreal for none other than Mike Ribiero.

The Blue Jackets would go on to select Maksim Mayorov

The Stars would draft: Austin Smith (128th), Jamie Benn (129th) and Michael Neal (149th). The Stars would also draft Ondrej Roman in the same round as a result of the Niinimaa for Erskin deal with the New York Islanders.

I don't really know how to conclude this other than by speculating. If Benn was guaranteed to be selected 129th overall would he have turned into the player that he is today playing for Columbus or Boston?

All I know is that Les Jackson and the Stars definitely won that trade. As of today (March 1, 2012) Mayorov has appeared in 20 games for Columbus and has a total of 2 points. Jamie Benn on the other hand has appeared in 204 games for Dallas, has netted 147 points and is still developing into a truly elite player in the league.